Andy Neary recounts a brief personal anecdote about visiting Crested Butte, Colorado to see aspen leaves and uses the delayed yellowing (due to warmer weather) as a metaphor: many outcomes are beyond our control, and accepting that can bring peace. He urges listeners to stop over-fixing outcomes, to take action without expecting perfect results, and to do one uncomfortable thing this week as an exercise in releasing control.
Chapters
The lesson on control and the fact that you need to stop trying to take so much of it. Over the weekend, Amy and I came up here to beautiful Crested Butte, Colorado, for three days of, I don't know, resetting and recharging. But one thing we love coming up here to do at this time of the year is look at the aspen leaves. You see, this is the time when the aspen leaves change from that mint green to that beautiful gold. So we drove the five hours, has spent three days in this natural beauty that God, the universe, whatever you want to call it, has created. But the leaves aren't quite gold yet. You see, it's been a little warmer here in Colorado. Now, we could have been extremely frustrated because we wanted to come up and see the yellow aspen leaves, but guess what? Not in our control. And that's the lesson I want to teach. Nothing is in our control right now. I hope that's one thing the pandemic has taught you. There is nothing you can control right now. And that should give you the greatest sense of peace you have ever felt. What's stopping you from taking action, from doing the things you know you should be doing? Because at the end of the day, the result is out of your control. So just start taking that action today. Make it your goal this week to do one thing that's uncomfortable, one thing you know you should do, that maybe you aren't because you've been trying to control the outcome. You want to make sure it's perfect before you take that action. Guess what? At the end of the day, you're not in control, my friend. So have zero expectations. Start taking the actions you want. Do the hard things that you have been pausing to do because you want to know the outcome before you start. Because at the end of the day, nothing is in our control. And that is such a beautiful thing. Just like Crested Butte.
